Low growth percentiles for PIH babies?

[lizziesmommy2009]

Hi, This is my very first posting here.

My baby was born on August 15, 2009. She was born about 2.5 weeks early via c-section due to my severe pre-eclampsia. Unfortunately, my preeclampsia wasn't picked up by my docs at first because my blood pressure is normally quite low ('high' for me is normally 90/60). Looking back, I think I had at least a good week of symptoms before my docs agreed upon preeclampsia and admitted me to the hospital.

Anyway, her birth weight was 5 pounds 12 ounces and 18.75 inches long. When discharged from the hospital, she had gone down to 5 pounds 7 ounces. Today at exactly 11 weeks old she weighs 9 pounds 1.5 ounces and looks great. However, she has been in a very low growth percentile for weight since day 1. Currently she is in the less than 5th percentile for weight. Everything else - head circumference, chest, and length are 25th percentile or higher which is good. She is developing normally and meets all of the milestones and such in the baby books, etc.

Anyone else have issues with their preeclampsia baby gaining weight? She doesn't have any health issues, eats very well (4 - 5 ounces per feeding), and is very happy and wonderful otherwise. She still can fit into a lot of her newborn clothes and some of her 0-3 month clothes (depending on the brand). She just outgrew the newborn diapers about two weeks ago because they didn't come up high enough in the back and she was getting blowouts (fun!).

Would love to hear your stories about your small baby after preeclampsia.

Thanks! -Christina

[tree]

It took a while for my daughter to ramp up to full speed, but she did it. She always ate well, but she started out somewhat small (5lbs, 3oz). She went from 5-10-25-50% on weight and 10-25-50-75% on height at her 2week, 2 month, 4 month, and 6 month appointment. Not all babies do that (regardless of PE). I think she was going to be a big baby and was set on making up for lost time. She seems to be on a growth break for the last week or two, which means she will get a little more wear out of her clothes. She wore NB clothes until she was at least 2 months, then wore 3 month clothes until she was over 4 months. She has now grown out of most 6 month stuff and is too long for some 9 month stuff. Growing quickly is expensive!!
Play around with different brands of diapers. It seems like my relatively tall daughter had more bad blowouts than many because they never really fit her snugly. Some brands fit better than others. We had really good luck with the Costco size 1-2 diapers once she hit about 10-12 lbs.

[farahsmom]

DD was born at 35 weeks (severe PE and HELLP), she weighed 4 lbs 3 oz at birth. She's now 15 months, still fits in her infant car seat and weighs 19lbs. As long as your baby is eating well, don't worry about it, my DD didn't reach 10lbs until she was 4 months old. It's funny my friend'ds always complain about how quickly their kids grow out of their clothes, meanwhile my daughter has been in her 6-12 month clothing for the past 5 months or so, I'm sick of seeing the same outfits, I can't wait for her to move up in the next size :P

[trish]

All 3 of my girls have been small & slow gainers. My 3rd was the smallest & is the slowest to gain yet. She's *finally* 21 lbs & a couple odd oz at 22 months. She was 17.5 at a year & 19.5 at 18 months. She's still short though too & just getting into 12 month pants - most 6-9 month pants still fit just fine. Talk about being sick of seeing the same clothes! It's been over a year in some of this stuff!!!

But she's super strong & otherwise basically healthy so her Ped isn't concerned. We did add in Pediasure & Carnation to whole milk after her 18 month visit & I think that has really helped with her gains lately. But, my 2nd daughter was only 23 lbs at 2, 26 lbs at 3 & finally broke 30 lbs at 4 and she's great so I'm not *too* worried about my baby.

Or, sometimes babies gain first in length & then "bulk up" with weight. So maybe that's what's happening. Oh - and echoing Mary Beth - we love Costco diapers. We've moved to OK from TX last year & don't have Costco here so we buy a big box whenever we visit back home. LOL!

[km1317]

My baby was born on July 12th at 38 weeks ( severe PE and HELLP), she only weighed 4lbs, 8 oz. When we left the hospital she was at 4lbs, 3oz. She is also on the low end in the percentile charts. She is now almost four months and is only at 9lbs, 8 oz. The way i look at it though is at least she is growing!!

[hannahsmom]

My one pound, one ounce preemie was never on the growth charts until she turned 3 years old. She wore a 3 month dress to her one-year birthday party! She got into the 5th percentile at around 3 years old and has taken off since then. She is now 8 years old and for the first time this year she is wearing clothes that are higher than her age! We are constantly buying new clothes because she's always growing out of them. She is also one of the tallest kids in her class! Don't give up :)

[lilliputianmama]

I think the true question is is her head growing?

And FWIW, both of my daughters are small and have followed their own growth curve, but there is a definite curve. My 5yo just hit the 10% for the first time ever. Her head was always huge but her length and weight took years to get on the charts.

[milesymommy]

My 1st DS was born at 36 weeks due to PE/HELLP. He was 7lb 6 oz, lost over a pound the first 3 days... I can't remember how long it took for him to gain it back. He has always been 25% or below for weight and 75% or higher for height. Almost 3 yrs old now and weighs 28 lbs. I have asked and asked and asked the doctors, and all say there is absolutely nothing wrong with being tall and skinny. They get concerened when they go dramatically from one end to the other - like 5% to 95% or vice versa. My second son, born 9/5 @ 7 lb 14 oz (39 wks - no PE, just PIH) is now 12 lb 8 oz and in the 80th percentile for everything - head, height & weight. He started wearing 3-6 month outfits at 3 weeks and soon to be in 6-9 month. I found for the first 12+ months the clothing sizes don't really match to age - we were always in a higher size for many brands (not all brands fit the same). Its weird going from a skinny baby to a comparitively chunky one.

[amanda]

I was told what Shannon was - that the head growing in relation to the rest of her body was a good sign that she was growing on her own curve. We also have some small people in our families too so it's also possible that she just may have inherited some of those genes as well.

We **still** don't weigh 20 pounds and she only recently got into 12 mo clothes but, like Trish's Ali she's very healthy, eats a lot, and is smart as a whip.

Hope this helps!

[kdreher]

I think you have to sort of put the growth charts out of your head when a preemie is concerned.

Michael was 2lbs 10 oz 25 inches. At his 9 month checkup he was 14lbs 8 oz and 3 3inches and his head was growing fast too. I know he is close to 16 lbs and will be 1 in 10 days. He is not on the charts and probably won't be for some time. He is wearing 6-9 mos clothes. He is a happy, healthy, growing, moving, babbling boy with 2 bottom teeth. This is all I can ask for. He's my peanut..for now.